Delegate often
Being a hands-on business owners doesn’t mean you should be doing everything yourself or micro-managing people. Invest some time in training people, supervise them initially and then allow them to take ownership of the task as their abilities and confidence improve. Also crunch the numbers to see if outsourcing some business tasks or using free apps and tools can save you time and deliver more value without costing you a small fortune. This will take some stress off of you, preserve your energy, and make you feel less stressed when you return home from work.
Use positive affirmations
Staying firmly focused on your business during business hours can be quite challenging to do on all the days of the week. You may feel a bit under the weather, have a mental block or be unmotivated for some reason. All this can eat into your time and leave very little of it for relaxation and personal errands. Positive affirmations like ‘I will manage my time efficiently’ or ‘I won’t spend any time on Facebook today’ have been seen to be very effective in training your subconscious mind. This positive self-talk can make your external behaviour reflect your internal programming, to improve work-life balance.
It's ok to say 'no'
Sometimes, we can be the victims of our own excessive ambition. Don’t get us wrong, being driven and ambitious is a positive thing, but a business cannot go from small to big and good to great in a short time. You need to build a solid foundation before you can think of growing healthily. So, it’s fine to refuse some opportunities or ideas early on if you think they’ll shake the delicate, still-forming foundation of your business.
Make sure your workspace is comfortable
Believe it or not, an ergonomic workspace can get the most out of you. A comfortable chair, friendly keyboard, adequate sunlight, a support stand for your laptop, etc, can ease the stress of working long hours. It can help you function better, manage time better, and prevent your life from being consumed by work. We would love to hear your thoughts on achieving work-life balance.
